Previews

The Interrogation Room: Madden NFL 12

Welcome to the Interrogation Room, GameSpy's signature pre-release game coverage format. Here, a GameSpy editor (typically one who's relatively in-the-dark about the game in question) grills his peers for information on a hotly anticipated game -- hopefully with more entertaining results than the typical boilerplate preview would provide.

Eric Neigher, Contributing Editor: So, another Madden arrives on the scene. I guess the big question is: How psyched are you, as a Madden fan, and why should I, as a casual football fan, want to purchase this one, as opposed to all the others I let slip through the cracks over the years? Or should I?

Will Tuttle, Editor in Chief: Well, it's definitely a bit too early to make that call, but I will say that I was a pretty hardcore Madden fan for a number of years, but I basically stopped playing it two or three years back. I just got tired of the incremental improvements made to each yearly iteration, as I got to the point where I felt like I was just playing the same thing over and over again. In many ways, I think that was a wise decision on my part, since what I've seen of Madden NFL 12 so far has really impressed me and made me want to dive right back in. I'm a huge NFL fan, but with a lockout looming, it's possible that the only way I'll be able to watch the beautiful Tom Brady (I mean, have you seen his hair lately?) throw perfect spirals will be on my Xbox 360.

Eric Neigher: I don't like his hair right now, to be honest. I feel it lacks luster and shine, and he should consider using an oil-based gel cleanser, or perhaps an herbal rinse after or during his normal shower routine. But apart from this, does Madden 12 offer any big new features, or is it just another roster update with a few new bells and whistles?

Will Tuttle: Yeah, it's got a number of changes, although those of us who didn't play the last couple of entries might not even notice them. For instance, a new collision system makes hits look and feel more realistic, which means no more of the "suction" that used to artificially bring two players together when you hit the tackle button (sorry, when you flicked the Hit Stick). And the new coverage system, again, might not even be noticeable to gamers that don't know the X's and O's of modern football. This year's Madden also has less of a focus on man-to-man coverage and a greater focus on zone coverage. The big new feature, however, is one that I've always wanted to see more of in my Madden: Called Dynamic Player Performance, a mechanic that represents an effort to capture the intangibles of players' performances rather than just basing everything on their numerical ratings.

Eric Neigher: The intangibles? I loved that movie: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery... and Robert DeNiro as Al Capone. Great filmmaking! Anyway, I'm guessing this Dynamic Player Performance mechanic is some sort of morale modeler? How's it work, exactly?

Will Tuttle: It could be termed they way, though only for certain players whose performance is affected by their morale. Every football fan knows their favorite player's traits and tendencies, right? Even if you're a huge Adrian Peterson fan, for example, you know that if he fumbles early in the game, he's likely to be less aggressive on subsequent carries. You know that if the game is on the line in the fourth quarter, you couldn't possibly have a better quarterback on your side than Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. They're clutch, and everyone knows it. Basically, Dynamic Player Performance adjusts player skills on the fly depending on the circumstances at hand. In addition to the numerical stats that each player has, they also have a list of traits and tendencies that come into play. I got a glimpse of some of the quarterback tendencies, which included: Tuck & Run, Throw Ball Away, Sense Pressure, Forces Passes, Clutch, and Consistency. DPP isn't limited to single games, either; it can actually affect an entire season. Bears fans undoubtedly know that quarterback Jay Cutler is streaky (read: inconsistent), so one bad, interception-filled game can send him into a multi-game slump that won't clear up until he has one of those 400-yard, four-touchdown games that turns everything around. It's potentially a really cool mechanic, although it's tough to really get a handle on it without some serious time with the game.

Eric Neigher: Sounds like an awesome mechanic -- I just wonder if this will turn Peyton and clutch running backs like, say, Arian Foster, into Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl. And speaking of old 2D classics, how does Madden NFL 12 look? Have they done anything new with the presentation? Any new commentary tracks or SportsCenter-like additions to the game and replay modes?

Will Tuttle: The game itself still looks really nice, as it's got three-dimensional grass and linear lighting, both of which sure sound really impressive. It's obvious the development team put a lot of time and energy into the presentation, making it feel like you're actually watching a game on TV. Madden NFL 12 uses 100% broadcast camera angles and features a "broadcast package" created by the same company that designed the NFL packages used by ESPN, NBC, and others. For my money, the coolest presentation feature might be what EA is calling DCAM, or "Director's Camera." You know when you're watching an NFL game on TV, and they occasionally cut to shots taken by a cameraman that's roving the sidelines or right next to a player who just scored a touchdown? That's what DCAM recreates.

Eric Neigher: That's kinda cool, actually. How do they accomplish this, though? Is an actual "cameraman" in the game, moving around and capturing the angles?

Will Tuttle: It's even cooler than that: Rather than have a virtual camera trying to recreate those sorts of shots we occasionally see on TV, the developers at EA Tiburon brought in several real experts to recreate the motions they've performed thousands of times before. They're given reference points and set loose to do what they do best. It sounds weird, but the thinking is that professional cameramen have a better idea of what works and what doesn't, as compared to a bunch of game developers that have never done anything like that in real-world conditions. From what I saw during my time with the game, they absolutely nailed it -- I felt like the cut-scenes I was watching would fit flawlessly into a real-life NFL game.

After seeing this year's game in action, I'm glad that I took a few years off from Madden. When I played the game year-in and year-out, I felt like the changes were incremental and it was hard for me to get excited for each annual entry. Madden NFL 12 is the first football game I've truly looked forward to in a long time, and I'm looking forward to seeing if the new features we discussed here translate to a better experience than ever.